On whether there were any QBs criticized as much as Chicago Bears QB Rex Grossman was last season:
“Off hand, I probably wouldn’t give you that; I wouldn’t know.”
On whether he was criticized last season:
“Yeah, I was criticized a little bit.”
On whether he was criticized more than Grossman:
“I don’t think anybody, especially for me, has been criticized that much. But you know what, early on, no one talked bad about Rex Grossman. It was just late in the year. Rex is a guy that, although he may not have been playing well towards the end of the year, they still finished the season 14-2, 13-3, whatever it may be, and it took for their head coach to say ‘He’s our guy; he’s the quarterback of this team that we’re going to roll with.’ One thing I think that people are trying to dig too deep into this whole situation is that, I wasn’t pinpointing particular people. What I said was, the fact that we [black quarterbacks] have to do a little bit extra. If it’s work on some of our weaknesses, then make them better; whatever it may be. No matter the style of play you’re displaying, there’s always going to be criticism. So, I never said that [Colts QB] Peyton [Manning] doesn’t get criticized; I never said [Bengals QB] Carson [Palmer] doesn’t get criticized; I never said [Patriots QB] Tom [Brady] doesn’t get criticized…because they do. We [black quarterbacks] get criticized a little different.”
On what questions he’s asked that white quarterbacks aren’t asked:
“You guys [the media] say the questions- the running quarterback situation. No one ever really talked of [former 49ers QB] Steve Young about the running-quarterback situation, [former QB] Jake Plummer, those particular things. If it was, ‘well, he’s not an accurate passer;’ the things go on. I mean, those are questions you guys ask. So, you would know what questions you ask me. Again, I didn’t do the [HBO] interview 30 minutes after the game; I didn’t do the interview before the game. The interview was done weeks before the season started. So, all of a sudden it showed. I didn’t tell them when I wanted [it] to air, and the tease that everybody has seen, they just blew it way out of proportion. Then, when they finally get a chance to see it, obviously they understand what I’m saying.”
On whether he was hesitant to answer the question from the interview:
“Not at all. If a question is asked, I’m going to answer it. I’ve been in this business for a long time. If I don’t answer the question, then it’s an issue. If I do answer the question, it’s an issue. One thing, pretty much, that I’ve said with it is, it’s just reality. I only speak on facts- only on something that I’ve been apart of and other quarterbacks that before me and after me have been apart of. So, that’s the only reason I answered the question the way [I did]. He asked it; I answered the way I felt, too. So, did I expect any backlash from it? Yeah. Everything I say I expect backlash from. So, for me sitting up here trying to explain it, hopefully the show shows you exactly what I was saying, and with today, we can end it and move on.”
On whether it’s racist for somebody to ask a black quarterback a question about accuracy or his ability to scramble:
“No, I didn’t say that. This is why I’m trying to explain it, and the show shows it. What I’m saying is, the question was asked [after I made the comment]: ‘We [black quarterbacks] have to do a little extra.’ Then he [the interviewer, James Brown] said, ‘Well, they [white quarterbacks] don’t get criticized?’ I [replied], ‘No, just differently.’ I didn’t say anything about running [quarterbacks during the interview]. I just said it right [now] about Steve Young and Jake Plummer- they’re running quarterbacks- but I don’t think they were asked those questions. For instance, [Titans QB] Vince Young, he came in and didn’t throw for 300 or 200 [yards]- he might have averaged 175 yards passing [last season]- but did whatever it took to win football games. Tennessee put themselves in a position to make it to the playoffs. [Now], he comes in this year, and what’d he pass for, 70-something yards? Now, people are starting to talk about him a little differently than him trying to help his team win games. It’s about winning football games here. That’s what it’s all about. It doesn’t matter if you’re black, white, red, green, yellow; it’s about winning football games.”
On whether it is the nature of the QB position to be scrutinized a little harsher than players at other positions:
“I said everybody gets scrutinized. I said that. I said we just get scrutinized a little differently.”
On whether his use of the term “WE” for black quarterbacks and “THEY” for white quarterbacks is being hypocritical:
“No. ‘We,’ meaning the African-American quarterbacks. Now, when I say ‘all of us as quarterbacks,’ I say ‘all of us as quarterbacks.’ That’s all. Am I not explaining it good for all of you, or what is it? You’re all trying to find answers and I’m not giving you. I’m not understanding what you’re saying.”
On whether he’s being hypocritical about bringing up race when categorizing certain quarterbacks as running-quarterbacks:
“Not at all; not at all. The question was asked. I didn’t bring it up. How many times [do I have to say that]. Just rewind it, or Tivo it and rewind it. Find out what I said. I didn’t bring it up [the topic that black quarterbacks face more criticism than white quarterbacks]. The question was asked; I answered it.”
On whether he knew ahead of time what the interview would be about:
“The interview was about my life and talked about me growing up, my career here, and that was it. So, it wasn’t that we sat down and talked about black-and-white issues; we talked about my life.”
On whether the media is harder on him because he’s black:
“I mean everybody gets criticized. I just said that. All quarterbacks get criticized no matter what it is. They talked about Peyton not winning the big game. They talked about Tom Brady and his baby, or whatever- his girlfriend. So, we [all quarterbacks] get criticized no matter what. I didn’t say that [only black quarterbacks get criticized].”
On how criticism is different amongst quarterbacks:
“It’s different for all of us.”
On what makes it different for black quarterbacks:
“There’s a lot different. The questions we have to answer. You wouldn’t ask anybody else some of the questions we get asked. It’s reality; face it.”
On whether there is still a stereotype for black quarterbacks:
“I don’t know. I mean, you answer that. There’s nothing that I can answer. I personally don’t care. When I put my uniform on, I’m out there to win football games. I’ve said that many of times, to win football games.”
On the media’s argument that white quarterbacks are questioned about being running-quarterbacks, too, like QB Jeff Garcia:
“Okay. I wasn’t pinpointing you guys [just the local media]. I mean it happens. It’s reality. So, if it’s not you guys, then don’t worry about it, right? If it’s not you, it could be somebody else. Relax.”
On whether he receives scrutiny as a black quarterback from outside the media:
“I only speak on facts. If I didn’t receive it here, I receive it outside. The same goes for every other quarterback. If they don’t receive it from their media, they receive it outside.”
On what he hears from outside people:
“It really doesn’t matter for me to try to explain. It’s just something that I’ve experienced. So why go deep into it? Why? It’s over.”
On whether he regrets making the comment that black quarterbacks face more criticism than white quarterbacks:
“No, I don’t regret it. I don’t regret it at all. I stand by my comments.”
On whether he wishes the piece aired at another time than when it did:
“Why? If it had come out later in the year, then you guys would have talked about [it then], too. So, it really doesn’t matter.”
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